Heya all, as a new player I just wanted to wish everyone
good luck in the game.
Shawn - The Tyrellians

-- The Tyrellians [bf6]

Dear Mom,
I hope you are reading the newspaper today.
Its the only way I know of to write home.
Tomorrow we go on our first spider hunt.
I guess I am a little bit afraid. You
see they taught me this little tune, and
they said if I whistle it in the battle,
then the spiders will succumb without
fighting to the death. But I am not sure
I still remember the exact notes to the
tune after that long boat ride from Provinia.
What If I miss a measure or something.
And then there's that other tune they
taught me to make the monsters fight for me.
I'm afraid they'll attack the captain
or something. And then he won't let me
sail with him anymore. What if we need
a special sword to let us attack the
spiders, like you need to attack the
Cyclops just outside the Imperial City.
What was the name of that sword again?
Anyways If we need a special sword or
something, then all of our months of
preparation will be wasted. The orb will
tell us where the special item is, but
what if it is on the other side of the
map? Oh well, I guess there's nothing
more I can do here but practise my tune
a few more times, and then get some sleep.
By the way you didn't tell me how hard
it is to sleep on a rocking boat. Anyways
good night. I hope dad's arm is feeling
better by now.
Whistler

-- The day of Rest [ju3]

----------------------
S. CAMARIS Update
----------------------

Monthly notice: any new visitors to our
fair isle should notify us in advance.

-- The Crazy Quilters [vn7]

In response to public demand...

Amra reports on the Chateau!

My birds are oft aloft above the Chateau, & here's what they
saw last turn:

Greetings, Provinians! My name's Jech Ercheflo the Friendly
Thin Guy. I'm a Trader. I travel Provinia buying and selling
and trading everything from the highest grade avinia leaf to the
cheap woven baskets that I buy off of broke lowlifes in Imperial
City. Now as you might imagine, with half-breeds like Swishbuckler
bending everyone in sight, Provinia is not always as friendly and
peaceful as me. So I don't like carrying large amounts of cash on
a trade run, if you know what I mean. That's why I bank at First
Provinia: low-interest loans, high interest rates, newbie bonuses,
warehouse facilities, shipping services... What else could you
ask for?

So take it from me, Jech Ercheflo the Friendly Thin Guy, don't
wind up lying in the gutters of Imperial City weaving baskets.
Give the the First Bank of Provinia a call. You'll be glad you
did.

-- Jech Ercheflo the Friendly Thin Guy [h3f]

The question is:

swordsmen or pikemen or crossbowmen, which is better?

After much consideration, & with the help of the
mathematically endowed, we've come up with the following
conclusions:

If you have only one noble/monster in a location, then
swordsmen are a better buy.

If you have two nobles/monsters available, then it makes
more sense to have pikemen in the front & crossbowmen
in the back. Crossbowmen are just soo cheap & strong
for their cost that they're the best bargain around. This
is true both in the open & in a castle/galley, etc.

Additionally, this assumes that supplies are equal, which
they are clearly not. Mining metal, which I thought would
be really cool, in fact bites. It takes a long time, lots
of workers, it produces very little iron, & the workers keep
getting blown up.

Considering all this, I think it fairly clear why we do not
see very many swordsmen around Olympia. Alas, the iron
age wasn't what it could be in this fair place.

Although the real answer to your question is that animals are
better. For as Conan learned, flesh in fact is stronger than
steal.

-- General Norc [z1a]

Rumors

Why does the "Clan with No Name" have no name?

And yet another reign of mercy

So, if *everyone* knows about the AOO passing characters
as they drop, then it cannot be cheating. Right?

I *HATE* to get Aura Blasted when I'm wearing my polyester undies!!!

The day of Rest [ju3] Asked:
> How many Nobles does it take to turn on a lantern?

Four
One to mine the iron that its made of.
One to make it.
One to recruit the peasant who will light it.
One to train that peasant to a worker, so its able to light it.

Someone Else Asked:
> What ever happened to the dreaded BtA?

Rumor has it he commited suicide, but the body hasn't been seen by
anyone I know.

Someone *Else* Asked:
> Can you breed Nazgul and Giant Birds?

Dunno. I've never done it. Currently, none of my research staff that
have nazgul also have Giant Birds, and vice versa.

And Still Someone Else pointed out:
> Methinks the Answer Guy can't read...or chose not to read......
> I believe the question was Are pikemen or "swordsmen" better?..
> NOT pikemen vs. soldiers! Although I thank you for your cost..
> analysis. Perhaps next week you can actually answer the first.
> question as it was asked? -- I'm certainly not the Answer Guy.

Oops.

Let's try this again, shall we?

Simple fight, one noble with 100 *swordsmen*, vs. 1 noble with 100
pikemen (both break at 50%). The swordsmen win ~92% of the time.
Looks like the swordsmen are better, on a man-for-man basis.

How about in terms of noble-days spent? Let's see, both require that
a peasant be recruited, then be trained into a soldier, then trained
into the final type, so that's even. The swordsman requires a
longsword, and the pikeman requires a pike. Both a sword and a pike
reuires a weaponsmith. The sword also needs a unit of iron, while the
pike needs a unit of wood.

So it comes down to the difference between a unit of iron, and a unit
of wood. Well, if you buy them at a city that sells then, a unit of
iron typically costs around 27 or 28 gold, while wood varies beteen
59 and 77, depending on where you find it. So pikes cost half as
much gold, if you're paying for the materials. How's that translate
to noble-days? Depends on your circumstances. You'll have to figure
out how much gold a noble-day is worthto you.

How about if we harvest the iron or wood ourselves? You can pick up 30
wood/month in a forest, given one or more workers. With enough
workers, you can do it in a day. Mining iron requires a workable
mine and 10 workers, and takes a week. How much it produces depends
on your mine. It would appear that iron is more difficult to produce
that wood, but again, how much more difficult depends a lot on your
circumstances. Once again, you'll have to figure out how much more 1
unit of iron costs you than 1 unit of wood.

It was so much easier when I was deciding between soldiers and
pikemen. :)

Here's one last bit of info to help you decide which is better for
you. I ran a few simulations, and found that a noble with 100
swordsmen is pretty much equal to a noble with 113 pikemen. So it
comes down to this: Is a swordsman more than 13% harder to make
than a pikemen for you? If so, stick to pikemen. But if you can make
more than 100 swordsmen in the time it takes you to make 113 pikemen,
then swordsmen are your best bet.

500 peasants will stomp on the swordsmen, but get beaten by the
pikemen, though. It depends a lot on what you're up against.

-- The Answer Guy

_INCH TIME FOOT GEM_

A lord asked Takuan, a Zen teacher, to suggest
how he might pass the time. He felt his days very
long attending his office and sitting stiffly to re-
ceive the homage of others.

Tokuan wrote eight Chinese characters and gave
them to the man:

Not twice this day
Inch time foot gem.

what is the use of a sacred grove ??????

When one eats the brains of a noble who had skills that cost
extra noble points(like Magic), does one get those skills
without expending noble points?

Comin' to ya...
On a dusty road!
Good lovin'...
I got a truckload!

-- A Soul Man

More money for not so mundane purposes!

The winds are rising in the East...
Bringing with them flights of light air cavalry
All Bound for Glory in the coming assaults!

Pride versus penury -- take three

Free, Free, Free I say, I knew the fools would melt!

Aren't you guys getting bored of all this yet?

No, I'm having a great time, how about you?

well.....for all the bluster....
STILL NO WAR!!!

And from this poster... STILL NO ID!!!
I'm waiting....me and the dragons...what's the hold up?

I believe the question was Are pikemen or "swordsmen" better?..

And the answer is... What are you doing? Neither cuts wood very
well. Troops are like any other unit, somewhat task specific.
Against dragons, however, there's no real difference.

The AOO is the strongest aliance in the game.
They can only be defeated by an aliance of the rest
of us. The time has come to take down the Chataux.

And what are you bringing to this party? 25 peasants?

The Dubious Guy

the seas grow angry
without the smell of blood

Now this is kinda' disturbing. I was so pleased to get
these rankings, but they're kinda' ominous also.